Bertie shows a father’s pride and fancy verbal skill

ON a bitingly cold January afternoon it was hard to imagine a sunny June 2004 day when Moore Street Plaza becomes a resplendent showcase of downtown Dublin.

Yesterday’s summons to the media didn’t advise that a powerful imagination would come in handy to visualise the €80m project. All we on-site watchers observed were some holes in the ground.

Fresh from a post-Christmas break in the Canaries’ sunshine, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern suffered no such lack of faith in the rejuvenation process as he bestrode his central city constituency with characteristic enthusiasm.